What started as a holiday greeting card commissioned by New York’s Museum of Modern Art in the 1960s has now grown into 50 different sculptures around the world and, recently, Wichita State has rejoined the ranks and brought the LOVE sculpture back to its campus.
Back in 2022, LOVE was recalled for conservation due to people climbing atop the statue and water damage from sprinklers.
“Now, it’s back and it’s a Christmas present to us,” said Taryn Trapani, registrar and collections manager at the Ulrich Museum of Art.
The LOVE series is a set of sculptures made by Robert Indiana, a pop artist, in the 70s after his greeting card garnered attention. After the creation of the sculptures, the first director of the Ulrich Museum, Martin Bush, reached out directly to Indiana, requesting one of the sculptures for Wichita State.
Jo Reinert is the Ulrich’s curator of modern and contemporary art. She said the museum still has letters of correspondence between Bush and Indiana.
“Robert Indiana and his grandparents were from Kansas, so he felt a particular special tie to the region which is why he agreed to create a sculpture for us,” Reinert said.
Despite LOVE sculptures residing in larger cities, such as New York City and San Francisco, Wichita’s depiction of the statue is unique in its own right.
“It’s the very first (sculpture) (Indiana) made in the color combination blue and green,” Reinert said. “And to our knowledge, there are seven or eight in that series, but ours is the first.”
LOVE was originally deployed in front of the Heskett Center up until June of 2022 but now resides in front of the Ulrich. Trapani said changing the location of the piece to be in front of the Ulrich was a great way to reintroduce it to campus.
“It feels much better to have it back though,” Trapani said. “I was just telling (Reinert) yesterday, pulling up to work and walking in, it’s like, ‘Wow, look at her.’ It’s inspiring, beautiful. It brings joy.”
Reinert also said keeping the sculpture near the museum helps protect it and draws attention to the campus’ art center.
“Not a lot of people just naturally come this way, and we know that LOVE is a draw, a photo op,” Reinert said. “We understand that it’s a destination spot on campus and for the community, the larger Wichita community and so we thought, ‘Let’s bring people here to see the beautiful mural and all the gorgeous sculptures.”
The LOVE sculpture will be the centerpiece of an event that the Ulrich is holding next semester. Reinert said museum staff will be hosting a silent auction, where they will also open a call for local artists to contribute pieces for the event. It will be held on Feb. 13.